Presenting credit score information

ABSTRACT

A credit report system is provided that may generate various user interfaces for a consumer. Credit accounts may be accessed and analyzed by receiving data from one or more of the national credit bureaus. The credit report system may present account information to a consumer in the form of credit account tiles, wherein the tiles each represent an account of the consumer. The consumer may also be able to search credit accounts, sort credit accounts, view the impact of credit accounts on one or more of the consumer&#39;s credit scores, interact with the credit accounts, make payments to credit accounts, and otherwise monitor changes to consumer&#39;s credit accounts.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/255,366, filed Apr. 17, 2014, which claims priority to U.S. Prov.Pat. App. No. 61/870,666 filed Aug. 27, 2013 and U.S. Prov. Pat. App.No. 61/815,194, filed Apr. 23, 2013, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties as if set forth herein.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/452,155, filed May 30, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,229; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/606,060, filed Oct. 26, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No.8,015,107; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/150,480, filed Jun. 10,2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,891; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/563,779, filed Sep. 21, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,925,582; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/326,803, filed Dec. 15, 2011, and U.S.Prov. Pat. App. No. 60/384,650, filed May 30, 2002. The disclosures ofthe above-listed applications are all hereby incorporated by referenceas if set forth herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to the field of consumer credit information andparticularly to the presentation of credit report and credit scoreinformation.

The credit score is an important indicator of a consumer's financialhealth. Consequently, having a high credit score is important toconsumers for many reasons. A consumer's credit score may impactavailability and/or terms (e.g., interest rate) of such things as loanapplications, rental applications, real estate mortgages, and so on.Thus, many consumers have a substantial interest in monitoring andfinding ways to improve their credit scores.

SUMMARY

It would be advantageous for consumers to be able to quickly investigatethe various actions that may be taken to change one's credit score andthe effect that those actions would have. In particular, it would beadvantageous for consumers to be able to visualize those effects in aninteractive and real time manner. It would also be advantageous forconsumers to visualize the impact specific credit data upon their creditscore, either individually, by category, or by account.

The present disclosure describes user-interfaces, systems, and methodsdirected towards providing a consumer-centered view of consumer's creditdata. In one embodiment, the user interfaces provide detailed andcustomizable views of credit accounts, credit score report, credithistory, loan planning (e.g., car, home, other), and available creditactions (e.g., dispute charges, id theft/fraud notifications). Forexample, a credit accounts view may present a consumer with information(e.g., balance, standing, credit utilization) about accounts on theconsumer's credit report and a relative impact of each on the consumer'soverall credit health.

In one embodiment, a computing system comprises one or more computerhardware processors and one or more storage devices. The storage devicemay store instructions for execution on the computer hardwareprocessors. The instructions may cause the processors to access creditdata for a consumer. From the accessed credit data, the processors mayidentify financial accounts of the consumer and determine accountinformation for each of the identified financial accounts. The computerprocessors may generate a user interface comprising a plurality ofsubstantially rectangle tiles that each indicate account information forone of the identified financial accounts and include a positive ornegative status indicator for the associated account.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent or patent application publication withcolor drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and paymentof the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 is a sample block diagram representing hardware and/or softwarecomponents of an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an example credit score user interface for viewing andanalyzing credit report data for one or more financial accounts, as usedin an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example credit score user interface for viewing andanalyzing credit report data, as used in an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an example credit score user interface for viewing andanalyzing credit report data related to account applications, as used inan embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an example credit score user interface for viewing andanalyzing credit report data related to closed accounts, as used in anembodiment.

FIG. 6 is an example credit score user interface for presenting creditreport data for one or more financial accounts in a sorted view, as usedin an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an example credit score user interface illustrating aconsumer's ability to pin an account, as used in an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an example credit score user interface for presenting aconsumer with potential actions related to a particular account, as usedin an embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an example credit score user interface for viewing andanalyzing credit report data related to a particular account, as used inan embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an example credit score user interface for presenting aconsumer with potential actions related to an account, as used in anembodiment.

FIG. 11 is an example credit score user interface for presenting adashboard or home page view for a consumer, as used in an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although several embodiments, examples and illustrations are disclosedbelow, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art thatthe systems described herein extend beyond the specifically disclosedembodiments, examples and illustrations and includes other uses of thesystems and modifications and equivalents thereof. Embodiments aredescribed with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein likenumerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used in thedescription presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in anylimited or restrictive manner simply because it is being used inconjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments.In addition, embodiments of the inventions can comprise several novelfeatures and no single feature is solely responsible for its desirableattributes or is essential to practicing the systems or methods hereindescribed.

Traditional credit reports typically present information in aspreadsheet-like view, such as with columns which present data from thethree major credit bureaus and rows which present a consumer's differentaccounts as well as different credit applications with differentcompanies. The traditional credit report is more of a business view ofthe consumer's credit data. Credit reports were never really intendedfor the average user to see until federal regulations enabled consumersto receive their credit report from each of the three bureaus for freeevery year. Thus, credit reports became much more common and accessibleto consumers. The traditional spreadsheet view of the rows and thecolumns may be more difficult for consumers to engage with and doesn'tprovide a certain level of satisfaction, understanding, and educationregarding the consumers' credit report.

The user interfaces provided and discussed herein present a parallelconsumer view which consumers may engage with more. In this way thecredit report may become a springboard for engagement within themembership (e.g. monthly subscription to one's credit reports, variouscredit report services, etc.). The credit report today is full of aconsumer's personalized credit data which may facilitate personalizationand customization of a consumer's membership account.

Credit report and/or credit monitoring products and services often sendalerts to the consumer for various credit events (e.g., notifying theconsumer he/she has a new inquiry on their credit report, or that apayment was late, etc.). Consumers often wish to know: what does thatmean? What should I do about it? What can I do about it? What does thecredit report system recommend? How does it impact my score? Does itmake it go up? Does it make it go down? What is my new score after thatinquiry? How does that actually affect me? Simply notifying the consumerabout a particular credit event may not help the consumer understand thetrue impact of the event. The user interfaces described herein attemptto answer these questions and provide a more comprehensive andinteractive view of the consumer's credit report and/or credit score.

Example System Implementation and Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a credit reportsystem 100, which may be in communication with network 160 and variouscomputing systems, such as consumer computing devices 162, credit datastore 108, and data sources 166, that are also in communication with thenetwork 160. The credit report system 100 may be used to implementsystems and methods described herein. In some embodiments, the othercomputing devices discussed herein, such as the computing devices 162,may include some or all of the same components as discussed below withreference to credit report system 100. Furthermore, depending on theembodiment, certain modules, such as the user interface module 110,credit data gathering module 150, and/or memory 130 may be performed bydifferent and or multiple computing devices. For example, certainfunctionality of the interface module 110 may be performed by thecomputing device 162, while other functionality of the interface module110 may be performed by the credit report system 100.

In an embodiment, various software modules are included in the creditreport system 100, which may be stored on the system itself, or oncomputer readable storage media separate from the system and incommunication with the system via a network or other appropriate means.The credit report system 100 may include a credit data gathering module150, which performs various tasks of gathering data used by the creditreport system. Such data may include, for example, credit data retrievedfrom credit data store 108. Such a credit data store 108 may compriseone or more credit bureaus and their databases, which may accessinformation from data sources 166, such as banks and creditors. In otherembodiments, the credit data store 108 may be maintained by anotherentity and/or may be part of and/or in direct communication with thecredit report system 100.

Credit data of consumers may be retrieved via a network 160, via adedicated communication channel, or by other means. In an embodiment,one or more credit bureaus provide the credit data to in the credit datastore 108, which may be accessed by the credit report system 100 via asecured communication channel to ensure the privacy and security of thecredit data.

In an embodiment, credit data is gathered on demand as required by thecredit report system 100. In another embodiment, credit data is gatheredon a periodic basis independent of requests for information to thecredit report system 100. In another embodiment, credit data is storedon the credit report system 100, in which case, retrieval of credit datafrom a credit bureau may not be necessary. The credit data may include acomplete credit report about a consumer, summary data, such as creditattributes (also referred to as credit variables) that are calculatedusing various modules, such as Experian's STAGG (standard aggregationvariables) attributes, and/or credit data inputs to calculate a completeor partial credit score. Each credit data input may be associated with aparticular category of credit inputs, for example credit usage, paymenthistory, age of accounts, types of accounts, and credit inquiries. Insome embodiments, credit data gathering module 150 may calculate theSummary/STAGG attributes or perform other modifications on accessedcredit data.

Credit data gathering module 150 may also gather information about how acredit score is calculated. This may include algorithms, formulas,executable code, statistical variables, and the like. This informationmay be used to visualize the significance of each type of data incalculating a credit score. In an embodiment, the models and/oralgorithms are retrieved from credit data store 108 on an on-demandbasis as needed by the credit report system. In another embodiment, themodels and/or algorithms are retrieved on a periodic basis. In anotherembodiment, the credit report system internally stores the models and/oralgorithms. In an embodiment, the user interface module 110 may includeexecutable instructions for constructing user interfaces or otherwiseinteracting with end users. User interface module 110 may includeportions that are executed by the credit report system 100 and/or by thecomputing device 162. Thus, discussion herein of operations performed bythe user interface module 110 may be performed entirely by the creditreport system 100, entirely by the computing device 162, or someportions may be performed by the credit report system 100 while otherportions are performed by the computing device 162. Furthermore, othercomputing systems may also perform all or some of the processesdiscussed with reference to the user interface module 110.

In one embodiment, the user interface module 110 may access data fromcredit data gathering module 150 or credit data store 108, and use thatdata to construct user interfaces that assist the user in visualizing acredit score and the underlying data used to construct a credit score.Such visualization may be presented to the end user in a manner thatallows improved manipulation and/or understanding of the credit data bythe user. In an embodiment, the user interfaces transmitted by userinterface module 110 are interactive. Various embodiments of the userinterfaces that may be provided by user interface module 110, are shownand described throughout this specification. Variations on suchinterfaces and other possible interfaces will be known to those of skillin the art. In some embodiments, the actual credit data accessed bycredit data gathering module 150 may not be transmitted to the computingdevice 162 and, rather, software code (e.g., HTML, Java, Perl, Ruby,Python, etc.) may be transmitted to the computing device 162. Forexample, code that is usable by the computing device 162 to render thecredit report user interfaces may be transmitted, without transmitting adata structure that separately includes the actual credit data.

User interface module 110 may be configured to construct user interfacesof various types. In an embodiment, user interface module 110 constructsweb pages to be displayed in a web browser or on a another computer ormobile application. The web pages may, in an embodiment, be specific toa type of device, such as a mobile device or a desktop web browser, tomaximize usability for the particular device. In an embodiment, userinterface module 110 may also interact with a client-side application,such as a mobile phone application (an “app”) or a standalone desktopapplication, and provide data to the application as necessary to displayunderlying credit score information.

Client computing device 162, which may comprise software and/or hardwarethat implements all or some of the user interface module 110, may be anend user computing device that comprises one or more processors able toexecute programmatic instructions. Examples of such a computing device162 are a desktop computer workstation, a smart phone such as an AppleiPhone or an Android phone, a computer laptop, a tablet PC such as aniPad, Kindle, or Android tablet, a video game console, or any otherdevice of a similar nature. In some embodiments, the client computingdevice 162 may comprise a touch screen that allows a user to communicateinput to the device using their finger(s) or a stylus on a displayscreen. The computing device 162 and/or credit report system 100 maycomprise storage systems such as a hard drive or memory, or comprise anyother non-transitory data storage medium. The storage systems may beconfigured to store executable instructions that may be executed by oneor more processors to perform computerized operations on the clientcomputing device, accept data input from a user (e.g. on the touchscreen), and/or provide output to a user using the display. Theseexecutable instructions may be transmitted to another device forexecution or processing by the device to implement the systems andmethods described herein.

The computing device 162 may be connected to the credit report system100, including credit data gathering module 150, and/or the credit datastore 108 via the network 160. The computing device 162 may be connectedto the network 160, which may include any combination of networks, suchas local area, wide area, Internet, etc., by way of a wired network,such as an Ethernet LAN or cable modem, or via a wireless method, suchas through an 802.11 access point or via a cell phone network. Thenetwork 160 allows computing devices to send (i.e. transmit) and receiveelectronic transmissions.

The computing device 162 may also comprise one or more client programapplications, such as a mobile “app” (e.g. iPhone or Android app) thatmay be used to visualize data, and initiate the sending and receiving ofmessages in the credit report system. This app may be distributed (e.g.downloaded) over the network to the client computing device directlyfrom a credit bureau, from the credit report system 100, credit datagathering module 150, user interface module 110, or from various thirdparties such as an Apple iTunes repository or Android app store. In someembodiments, the application may comprise a set of visual interfacesthat may comprise templates to display a consumer's credit datainformation from a credit report or associated attributes. In someembodiments, as described above, visual user interfaces may bedownloaded from another server or service, such as the credit reportsystem 100. This may comprise downloading web page or other HTTP/HTTPSdata from a web server and rendering it through the “app”. In someembodiments, no special “app” need be downloaded and the entireinterface may be transmitted from a remote Internet server to computingdevice 162, such as transmission from a web server that is a part of thecredit report system 100 to an iPad, and rendered within the iPad'sbrowser.

As described above, some embodiments may include portions that areexecuted by the credit report system 100 and/or by the computing device162, or are entirely executed by the credit report system 100 or thecomputing device 162. Thus, discussion herein of any structure (e.g.CPU, memory, etc.) of the computing device 162 or operations performedby the computing device 162 or user interface module 110 may be equallyapplied to the credit report system 100. Furthermore, other computingsystems may also perform all or some of the processes discussed withreference to the user interface module 110.

The credit report system 100 includes, for example, a personal computerthat is IBM, Macintosh, iOS, Android or Linux/Unix compatible or aserver or workstation. In one embodiment, the credit report system 100comprises a server, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant, a kiosk, or a media player, for example. In one embodiment,the exemplary credit report system 100 includes one or more centralprocessing unit (“CPU”) 105, which may each include a conventional orproprietary microprocessor. The credit report system 100 furtherincludes one or more memory 130, such as random access memory (“RAM”)for temporary storage of information, one or more read only memory(“ROM”) for permanent storage of information, and one or more massstorage device 120, such as a hard drive, diskette, solid state drive,or optical media storage device. Typically, the modules of the creditreport system 100 may be connected to the computer using a standardbased bus system. In different embodiments, the standard based bussystem could be implemented in Peripheral Component Interconnect(“PCI”), Microchannel, Small Computer System Interface (“SCSI”),Industrial Standard Architecture (“ISA”) and Extended ISA (“EISA”)architectures, for example. In addition, the functionality provided forin the components and modules of credit report system 100 may becombined into fewer components and modules or further separated intoadditional components and modules, and executed in software, hardware,or a combination of hardware and software.

The computing device 162 and credit report system 100 are generallycontrolled and coordinated by operating system software, such as iOS,Android, Chrome OS, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8,Windows Server, Windows CE, Unix, Linux, SunOS, Solaris, iOS, BlackberryOS, or other compatible operating systems. In Macintosh systems, theoperating system may be any available operating system, such as MAC OSX. In other embodiments, the computing device 162 and/or credit reportsystem 100 may be controlled by a proprietary operating system.Conventional operating systems control and schedule computer processesfor execution, perform memory management, provide file system,networking, I/O services, and provide a user interface functionalityusable by the user interface module 110, such as a graphical userinterface (“GUI”), among other things.

The exemplary computing device 162 and/or credit report system 100 mayinclude one or more commonly available input/output (I/O) devices andinterfaces 111, such as a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, and printer. Inone embodiment, the I/O devices and interfaces 111 include one or moredisplay devices, such as a monitor or touchscreen, that allows thevisual presentation of data to a user. More particularly, a displaydevice provides for the presentation of GUIs, application software data,and multimedia presentations, for example. The computing device 162and/or credit report system 100 may also include one or more multimediadevices 140, such as speakers, video cards, graphics accelerators, andmicrophones, for example.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the I/O devices and interfaces 111 providea communication interface to various external devices, such as via thenetwork 160.

The credit report system 100, the credit data store 108, and/or the datasources 166 may include one or more internal and/or external datasources 166. The data sources 166 may store, for example, credit bureaudata and/or other consumer data. In some embodiments, one or more of thedatabases or data sources may be implemented using a relationaldatabase, such as Sybase, Oracle, CodeBase and Microsoft® SQL Server aswell as other types of databases such as, for example, a flat filedatabase, an entity-relationship database, and object-oriented database,and/or a record-based database.

The various modules of the credit report system 100 may include, by wayof example, components, such as software components, object-orientedsoftware components, class components and task components, processes,functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of programcode, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, datastructures, tables, arrays, and variables. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, the credit report system 100 is configured to execute the userinterface module 110 in order to for example, receive credit report andsummary attributes regarding a specific consumer, generate one or morecredit report user interfaces, receive data input and/or userinteractions with the user interfaces, and update the user interfaceand/or visual indicators in real-time based on the received data inputand/or user interactions, and perform other methods as described herein.

User interface module 110 may generate and render one or more visualuser interfaces (such as the user interfaces illustrated and describedwith respect to FIGS. 2-11) based on upon the received creditinformation. By interacting with these user interfaces, a user ofcomputing device 162 may view various information about credit scoregoals (or thresholds) and alerts.

In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodiedin hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions,possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programminglanguage, such as, for example, Java, Lua, C or C++. A software modulemay be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in adynamic link library, or may be written in an interpreted programminglanguage such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will beappreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules orfrom themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events orinterrupts. Software modules configured for execution on computingdevices may be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a compactdisc, digital video disc, flash drive, magnetic disc, or any othertangible medium, or as a digital download (and may be originally storedin a compressed or installable format that requires installation,decompression or decryption prior to execution). Such software code maybe stored, partially or fully, on a memory device of the executingcomputing device, such as the credit report system 100 and/or thecomputing device 162, for execution by the computing device. Softwareinstructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will befurther appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connectedlogic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised ofprogrammable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. Themodules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules,but may be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modulesdescribed herein refer to logical modules that may be combined withother modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physicalorganization or storage.

Like the credit report system 100, computing device 162 may comprisesimilar computing hardware, software, and functionality as describedabove for credit report system 100.

In some embodiments, the system distinguishes between the initialtransmission of credit data required for user interfaces, and subsequenttransmissions of user interface data so that it may transmit onlyportions that are necessary to update a credit score threshold userinterface or alert interface. This may be done, for example, using anXMLHttpRequest (XHR) mechanism, a data push interface, or othercommunication protocols.

Sample User-Interfaces

Through the user interfaces described herein, the credit report system100 takes a consumer's credit data, such as accounts (tradelines),individual events, late payment indicators, changes in credit usageand/or credit limits, and places it logically in a variety of userinterfaces for presentation to a consumer.

FIGS. 2-11 illustrate several example user interfaces as used in one ormore embodiments of a credit report system. The example user interfacesmay be sample mobile device user interfaces and/or are sample userinterfaces typically displayed via a web browser or standaloneapplication. However, in some embodiments, each of the sample userinterfaces described herein may also be displayed on a suitable computerdevice, such as a personal computer, desktop, laptop, cell phone,tablet, or portable computing device, and are not limited to the samplesas described below. These user interfaces are examples of only certainfeatures that a credit report system may provide. In other embodiments,additional features may be provided, and they may be provided usingvarious different user interfaces and software code. Depending on theembodiment, the user interfaces and functionality described withreference to the figures may be provided by software executing on acomputing device, such as the credit report system 100 and/or thecomputing device 162).

FIG. 2 is an example credit score user interface for viewing andanalyzing credit report data, as used in an embodiment. FIG. 2 presentsan accounts (e.g., “tiles”) page. A couple of major components ofmanaging one's existing accounts is just paying one's bills on time aswell as keeping one's overall credit usage (e.g., utilization) below acertain percentage or threshold (e.g., below 30% may be most optimal).These components can help the consumer optimize his/her credit score.The credit report system 100 brings managing these accounts into theuser experience via a nice, simple clean view of the consumer'saccounts.

The example user interface of FIG. 2 presents a filter dropdown 210 forselecting accounts to include in the tile view credit report. In thisexample, the user has select to include only “open accounts.” The creditreport system 100 may filter by other types of accounts (e.g., closedaccounts, inactive accounts) and/or other criteria associated withaccounts (accounts with credit inquiries still affecting the consumer'scredit score, accounts with late payments, etc.). While the userinterface of FIG. 2 presents the credit report data in a tile view, ifthe consumer wishes to view something more traditional, like thetraditional table view (e.g., columns and rows), the user interface maypresent the consumer with an option to switch to that view.

The tile view credit report helps users understand what things that theyshould pay attention to—things that the consumer should go and take alook at in further detail. In one embodiment, the user interface of FIG.2 presents accounts using indicators of whether the consumer shouldreview further account information and possibly take some action. Forexample, one account may be marked as red and another may be markedgreen, where red indicates, for example, that the account needs theconsumer's attention and green indicates, for example, that the accountis in good standing, and the consumer may not need to visit furtherinformation regarding that account or take actions on that accountimmediately.

For example, consider the accounts referred to in tiles 220 and 230. Theuser interface may highlight these accounts for the consumer using redindicators across the bottoms of the tiles (or elsewhere on the tiles inother embodiments). The tile 220 indicates that the customer's bill isconsidered past due for the associated CitiOne account, and indicatesthe date that it was due. The credit report system 100 also gives theconsumer an opportunity to pay the overdue bill directly from the tileview credit report. In some embodiments, if the credit report system 100identifies a bill that is due within a predetermined threshold time(e.g., one day) and the consumer hasn't made the required payment, thecredit report system 100 may facilitate the minimum payment for theconsumer so that the payment may be not considered late. This is auseful feature because paying bills on time is a significant factor ofone's credit score. In such an embodiment the credit report system 100can provide consumers with tools to pay their bills—to make sure thatthey're not late, which in turn will help them better manage theiraccounts which may have a positive impact to their credit score.

Still with reference to FIG. 2, the tile 230 associated with the DeltaMiles card may be indicated with red, but for a different reason thantile 220: credit usage. The credit report system 100 knows that keepingone's credit usage or credit utilization below a percentage (e.g., 30%)may be most optimal. At 40%, the consumer Delta Miles account in thissample embodiment is over the recommended utilization. In response todetermining that the consumer has an account over the recommended usage(e.g. 30%), the credit report system 100 may alert the consumer so thatthe consumer may make a payment to reduce usage. The alerts may beindicated on a user interface as illustrated in FIG. 2. For example, inFIG. 2, the tile associated with the Delta Miles account may behighlighted in color to show the potential negative impact. In someembodiments there may also be additional indicators present on thetiles, such as the credit usage alert indicator 270 shown in FIG. 2. Insome embodiments, the credit report system may facilitate automaticpayments to keep a consumer's accounts below recommended usage levels,or below a level set by the consumer. In some embodiments, the creditreport system 100 may alert the consumer at a time when the impact froman event is still only potentially negative such that the consumer canactually do something before it is updated on the credit report. Forexample, the credit report system 100 may alert the consumer when theconsumer's credit usage approaches a threshold instead of only afterthat threshold is crossed. In FIG. 2, for example, the credit reportsystem may determine that credit usage over 30% has a negative impact onthe consumer's credit score. The credit report system may alert theconsumer when credit usage approaches 25% so that the consumer is awareof the approaching 30% threshold before the consumer's credit usagepasses 30% and begins to negatively impact a credit score.

With respect to the overall design of the user interface of FIG. 2, thecredit report system 100 may present the accounts with logos todistinguish the accounts, rather than just using the name of theaccount. The credit report system 100 may automatically retrieve thecorrect logo for an account of the consumer based on account informationderived from the consumer's credit data. For example, the credit reportsystem 100 may determine from the consumer's credit data that theconsumer has a Discover card and can include a default Discover logo ona tile associated with that account. In some embodiments, an account mayhave multiple types of accounts (e.g., multiple levels of credit cards)with multiple logos and the consumer can select an appropriate accountlogo from a plurality of possible account logos that may be identifiedby the credit report system 100. In one embodiment, the consumer canupload a personalized logo for an account.

Frequently creditor names that are listed on credit reports may not beuser-friendly. Sometimes they're acronyms or businesses with which theconsumer does not directly interact. Thus, in one embodiment theconsumer may be presented an option to customize or rename accounts,e.g., to something more recognizable or user-friendly. For example, inFIG. 2 the consumer has named the account associated with tile 240 to“Joan's loan” (e.g. this could be a loan for his wife's car) theconsumer could have multiple car loans on his credit report and he wantsto easily distinguish the difference between each of the car loans hehas. For a personal car loan, he may nickname the account “My car loan”to distinguish it from “Joan's loan.” Thus the credit report system 100enables the user to personalize the information included on the tiles.

Credit data, such as that retrieved from credit data store 108 may beanywhere from 1 to 30 or more days old, so it is not always up to datewith current information for each of the consumer's accounts. In oneembodiment, the credit report system 100 gives consumer's a reason tocome back much more often via a “connect now” functionality, wherebyaccount information may be updated more frequently. For example, thecredit report system may provide the consumer with an option to connectan account (e.g., the MasterCard account associated with tile 250currently stating that the balance shown is the last reported balance inFIG. 2). For example, in FIG. 2, selecting “connect now” may enable theconsumer to download and/or access transactions from an issuer of theparticular MasterCard such that information on the account may be moreup to date than provided by credit data (e.g., reported from the creditcard issuer maybe only once a month). For example, purchases made by theconsumer using a particular account may be reflected in the accountbalance shown on the associated tiles when they are updated on theissuer's systems instead of after the consumer's credit report has beenupdated. In some embodiments, this account linkage may allow theconsumer to view individual transactions associated with his accountsthrough the credit report system 100. For example, selecting an accounttile may present the consumer with an additional user interface showingthe individual transactions made on the consumer's account. If thesystem links multiple accounts associated with the consumer, theconsumer may use his credit report to view updated account data in oneplace, alongside the associated credit score impacts, rather than havingto view data at individual creditors.

The user interface shown in FIG. 2 may include other features which maynot be shown. For example, each account may have an associated creditutilization amount or percentage indicating how much of an availablecredit for the account is being used by the consumer (e.g., a user mighthave a $1,000 balance for an account and a $10,000 maximum credit forthe account, indicating a 10% credit utilization for the account). Thecredit utilization amount may be shown along with, or instead of, otheraccount information in the account tile. In one embodiment, the creditutilization data may be displayed as a graph of credit utilization overtime. Other examples of account information which may be displayed inthe account view may include a visual indicator of which account has ahighest credit limit, which account is the oldest account (and/or anindication of the age of respective accounts), and other informationwhich may be of interest to the consumer.

In some embodiments, the account view user interface shown in FIG. 2 mayalso provide or enable direct options to the user/consumer to pay billsfor one or more accounts. For example, the user-interface in FIG. 2provides the consumer with a button 360 enabling the consumer to make apayment. The credit report system 100 may provide the user with theability to, for example, setup a one time or recurring payment for oneor more accounts directly from a user interface provided by the creditreport system 100. The credit report system 100 may also provide theuser with the ability to enroll or “opt-in” to a minimum paymentservice, so that the credit report system 100 can facilitate automaticpayments of a minimum amount due for an account on behalf of the user ifa late payment is projected. Avoidance of a late payment may helpprevent a negative credit event from affecting the consumer's overallcredit score or credit health. The credit report system 100 mayfacilitate this automatic minimum payment by receiving authorizationfrom the consumer, as well as account information specifying a fundingaccount from which funds should be withdrawn (e.g., a bank or otherdeposit account) and one or more credit accounts for which minimumpayments due should be automatically paid on the consumer's behalf on orbefore the due date.

FIGS. 3-7 are additional examples credit score user interfaces forviewing and analyzing credit report data for one or more financialaccounts, as used in an embodiment. Each of the example credit scoreuser interfaces shown in FIGS. 3-7 illustrate variations on the account“tile” view illustrated in FIG. 2. For example, the user interface ofFIG. 3 illustrates several features which may be included on account“tiles” including, for example, an indicator, such as an icon, badge,color, and/or text, illustrating or highlighting a particularcharacteristic or attribute of each respective account. The exampleshown in FIG. 3 shows icons and text in the upper right corner of eachaccount tile, although these indicators may be displayed in otherpositions or layouts. Examples of indicators which may be displayedinclude an age of account indicator 310 (e.g., an “oldest account”indicator or similar), a credit limit indicator 320 (e.g., a “highestlimit” indicator or similar), a payment history indicator 330 (e.g., a“perfect payments” indicator or similar), a type of account indicator(e.g., an image of a house to indicate a mortgage, an image of a car toindicate an auto loan, an image of a student to indicate a student loan,etc.), and so on. The text to the right of the tiles indicates possiblebenefits individual accounts may have to a consumer's credit score. Forexample, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the consumer'sDiscover card is the oldest account. The consumer is informed, byinclusion of the oldest account indicator 310, that the Discover card isthe oldest account, and by the included text that the account helps withthe age of accounts score factor. In some embodiments, the system mayinform a consumer of multiple factors that are impacted from eachaccount. The system may also inform the consumer of how each accountcontributes to negative impacts. For example, instead of visualindicators of positive attributes, some or all of the consumer'saccounts may have negative indicators. For example, the credit reportsystem 100 may determine which accounts are negatively impacting one ormore factors of the consumer's credit score. Those accounts may bepointed out to the consumer with an indicator corresponding to thefactor that is negatively impacted. In FIG. 3, for example, the tileassociated with the consumer's Delta Miles account may include anindicator informing the consumer that the Delta Miles account isnegatively impacting the credit usage factor of the consumer's creditscore. In some embodiments, the credit report system 100 may sort theconsumer's accounts based on their impact on the consumer's creditscore. For example, the accounts may be sorted based on the mostpositive impact, the most negative impact, or the greatest impactregardless of positive or negative.

In another example, FIG. 4 illustrates a variation on the account viewtiles of FIG. 2 showing information about credit inquiries associatedwith the respective accounts. The user interface illustrated in FIG. 4may be reached by selecting “inquiries” from the filter dropdown 210.The inquiry information may include for example an indication of when acredit data inquiry was added to the consumer's credit report inresponse to request for credit data from the various entities. In thisembodiment, the account tiles include an indication of when inquiriesare scheduled to be removed from the consumer's credit report. Because acredit inquiry can negatively impact a consumer's credit score,consumer's may be curious as to when inquiries (e.g., for purposes ofopening a new line of credit) will no longer affect their credit score.The example of FIG. 4 provides the consumer with that information. Insome embodiments, the inquiries are color coded to indicate the statusof the inquiry. For example, in FIG. 4, those inquiries that do not showup on the consumer's credit report anymore are color coded green, whilethose that do show up on the consumer's credit report are color codedred to indicate that they may be negatively impacting the consumer'scredit score. In some embodiments, the system may include additionalcolors to indicate inquiries that are projected to be removed from thecredit report soon. For example, inquiries that are projected to beremoved in the next month, or next time the consumer's credit report isupdated, may be highlighted in yellow. Some embodiments of the userinterface of FIG. 4 may not provide indicators of an inquiry's status ormay provide indicators in other manners not illustrated. In someembodiments, the consumer may be able to sort account tiles included inthe inquiries-filtered view based on a variety of options. For example,the consumer may be able to sort tiles based on when correspondingaccount inquiries will be removed from the consumer's credit data, theinquiry date, whether an account was eventually opened based on theinquiry, the impact on the consumer's credit score, or other factors.

In another example, FIG. 5 illustrates a variation on the account viewtiles of FIG. 2 showing information about closed accounts. The accounttiles may include information such as when the account was closed; astatus of the account including whether the account was paid in full (ifknown); and/or a recommendation to keep an account open, which may helpimprove the consumer's credit score because of one or more positivescore factors related to the account, such as a good payment history(e.g., on-time payments, at or above minimum amounts due, etc.), a highcredit limit, and/or an old account. In the example of FIG. 5, theconsumer is informed that two accounts, those associated with tiles 510and 520, were settled for less than the consumer owed. These accounttiles include a red indicator (across the bottom margin of the tiles inthis embodiment) which indicates that the closed account is negativelyaffecting the consumer's credit score. The remaining closed accounts arelabeled green as being satisfactorily paid to the creditor. Theconsumer, in the example of FIG. 5, is also informed that keeping openold accounts with a good payment history may benefit the consumer'scredit score by the green indicators on tiles 530 and 540. The consumermay access the tile view of FIG. 5 by selecting closed accounts fromfilter dropdown 210.

In FIG. 6, the tiles associated with the consumer are sorted based onone or more attributes selected by the consumer. In the sampleembodiment of FIG. 6, tiles are sorted based on the credit utilizationof each account. For example, the account with the highest usage islisted first, in this case, the consumer's Delta Miles credit card. Insome embodiments, such as is shown in FIG. 6, all types of accountsassociated with the consumer's may be listed, even though only some ofthe accounts have a credit usage attribute. In such embodiments, thecredit report system 100 may display those accounts without the selectedattribute at the end of the sorted accounts. In other embodiments, if aconsumer sorts accounts based on a specific attribute, the credit reportsystem 100 may only display those accounts having the relevantattribute. For example, if accounts are sorted by credit usage, onlythose accounts with that attribute would be displayed in FIG. 6.Therefore, the consumer's revolving credit accounts would be displayedin FIG. 6, but the consumers other accounts, such as mortgages andloans, may not be displayed. The accounts may be sorted from left toright and top to bottom as shown, or in another order. Theuser-interface in FIG. 6 sorts the accounts based on credit usage, butthe consumer may have the option to sort the accounts based on otheraccount attributes. For example, the consumer may have the option tosort accounts based on amount due, total balance, oldest/newestaccounts, credit limits, nearest payment due dates, necessity ofattention from the consumer, and/or other attributes associated withcredit accounts.

FIG. 7 is an example credit score user interface illustrating an optionto pin one or more account tiles to the front of the consumer's accountspage. The user interface may provide the consumer with the ability tocustomize arrangement of the account tiles in additional ways toincrease the usability for specific consumers. For example, in FIG. 7,the Discover account tile 710 may be the consumer's personal favoritecredit card. When the consumer logs into the credit report system 100,the account may be in good standing (e.g., indicated with a greenhighlight). In the example of FIG. 7, the consumer has sorted accountsbased on the impact accounts have to the consumer's credit score. Thus,the Discover card may have been moved down, and other accounts may havebeen moved up because they are negatively impacting the consumer'scredit score and may need immediate attention from the consumer. But inthis example the consumer may prefer to see the Discover account tile710 near the top of the user interface, no matter what sorting isapplied to the tiles. So the user interface of FIG. 7 may provide a pinconcept where the consumer can take an account from anywhere on thescreen and drag it or otherwise place it wherever the consumer desiresto see it (e.g. in this case, at the top left because that's where theconsumer's eyesight is going to focus). Pinned account tiles (e.g.,“sticky” to a particular location) may be indicated by a user interfaceelements such as the pin 720, or another indicator that an account hasbeen pinned. In some embodiments, the consumer can pin more than oneaccount, and can pin accounts to any position on the user interface(e.g. in the middle of the screen, or at the bottom right of thescreen). In some embodiments, pinning an account will make that accountappear pinned to a specific position when the consumer enters a defaultview of the accounts page, but the account will not be pinned if theconsumer sorts or otherwise manipulates the accounts with automatedfunctions.

Depending on the embodiment, variations of the information provided inthe example tiles of FIGS. 2-7 may be provided in a single userinterface. For example, a credit score interface may display a tilehaving information on a closed account (e.g., as in FIG. 5), anothertile having information on when an inquiry for a particular line ofcredit will be removed from the consumer's credit file (e.g., as in FIG.4), and/or one or more tiles including badges, colors, icons, etc.indicating other information of one or more lines of credit (e.g., as inFIG. 3).

FIG. 8 is an example of a credit score user interface displaying theconsumer with a contextual pop-up credit menu 810. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 8, the menu is provided to the consumer based oninput indicating that the consumer is hovering over an account tile. Inother embodiments, for example, a contextual credit menu 810 userinterface element may be displayed over an account tile/panel, inresponse to other user interactions (e.g., clicking on an account tile,hovering a mouse over a specified portion [bottom, top, right, left,etc.] of the account tile, touching a portion of the screen fortouch-screen enabled devices, speaking a voice command to show thecredit menu for audio command enabled devices, detecting a visual orgesture based command for devices with a digital camera, etc.). In someembodiments, the contextual credit menu may include options for the userto, for example, call the credit account service provider, add a note onthe account, view detail for the account, make or schedule a payment,flag or create an action item for the account, and/or perform otherfeatures associated with the credit report system 100. The credit reportsystem 100 may enable the consumer to interact with the credit menu 810to perform the selected action in relation to the associated account.For example, if the consumer selects an option to “Add Note” in relationto the Delta Miles account the credit report system 100 may alter theuser interface or provide a new user interface to the consumer whichenables the consumer to add a note to the relevant account. In someembodiments, clicking on an account will bring the consumer to a newuser interface (e.g. FIG. 9) from which the consumer can perform one ormore of the options indicated in the credit menu 810.

In FIG. 9, the consumer is presented with an account level screen fromwhich the consumer can perform actions associated with a specificaccount. This screen may be presented when the consumer selects one ofthe accounts from the user-interfaces described in reference to FIGS.2-8. The consumer may enter information to make a payment to theselected account 910, file a dispute based on the selected account 920,edit settings for the account 930 (e.g. account nickname), call theentity associated with the account 940, or make notes on the account950. The consumer is also provided with information about the status ofthe selected account 960. In some embodiments, the consumer may bepresented with fewer or additional actions associated with the selectedaccount. Selecting to call the entity associated with an account mayinitiate a phone call on computing device 162 to the designated number.If the computing device 162 is a consumer's laptop, desktop, or othercomputer system, the call may be initiated over a VoIP service or othersimilar program. If the computing device 162 is a mobile device such asa cellular phone, selecting to call the designated number may make aphone call through the phones internal system. Entering information tomake a payment may process a payment based on provided financialinstitution information, or may provide information to a third partypayment processor to make a payment to the associated creditor. In someembodiments, the consumer can setup payment rules and/or recurringpayments to be made to one or more accounts. In FIG. 9, the consumer maymake notes for a specific account. For example, the consumer may noticea late payment, but the consumer may be sure he/she paid that bill ontime. The consumer may need to contact the creditor to resolve thedispute, but the creditor may be closed or it's too late or inconvenientfor the consumer to immediately call. The consumer can put a short noteon the page associated with this account to remember to check if thepayment was indeed late. Next time the consumer logs into or accesseshis/her credit report account the credit report system 100 may remindthe consumer to call. The consumer may then add another note (e.g. spokewith Jane regarding the late payment, Jane confirms that the actualpayment was late by 3 days). Thus the credit report system 100 mayenable more user interaction by allowing the consumer to take noteswithin the context of his/her credit report and/or credit account data.This way the consumer can record diligent notes (e.g., who the consumertalked to, the date the consumer talked, what they said, etc.). Theaccount information 960 for the selected account may be the same as isshown on an accounts page (e.g. FIG. 2), or may be more detailed for thespecific account. There may also be one or more graphics to help theconsumer understand how the selected account affects the consumer'soverall credit score.

FIG. 10 illustrates an additional user interface providing some of thefeatures described in reference to FIG. 9. In some embodiments one ormore of the features described in reference to FIG. 9 may be displayedon one of the account tiles as part of a user interface similar to thosedescribed in reference to FIGS. 2-7. These options may be presented tothe consumer in response to a user interaction (e.g. a mouse click or atouch in the case of a touch screen device) indicating a user'sselection of an account. For example, in FIG. 10, the consumer hasselected the Delta Miles account from the accounts listed. In response,the credit report system 100 provides the consumer with optionsassociated with the account on the Delta Miles account tile 1010. Insome embodiments, the system may provide some animation associated withthe selection, such as flipping the tile over. As illustrated in FIG.10, the consumer is presented with options to file a dispute, make anote, or call the credit provider. These options may operate in the samemanner as discussed in reference to FIG. 9. The consumer may also beenabled to take fewer or additional actions, such as updating settingsand/or making payments. The options provided to the consumer may bedifferent depending on the status of an account, or other contextualindicators. In some embodiments, the consumer is also provided withinformation about the selected account. For example, in FIG. 10, theconsumer is informed that the Delta miles account “helps with paymenthistory score factor.” In some embodiments, more detailed informationand/or links to more detailed information about the selected accountsare provided. In some embodiments, the consumer may provide only actionsor only information on the selected account.

FIG. 11 is an example credit score user interface for presenting adashboard or home page view for a consumer, as used in an embodiment.The home page of FIG. 11 provides, for example, a quick snapshot of aconsumer's credit score 1110, his/her actions, quick shortcut links tohis/her open credit cards and his/her open loans 1120, a snapshot ofhis/her goal planner 1130 (which the consumer can simulate and engagewith directly). In some embodiments, once the consumer sets up a planthis area may be used to show progress of his/her plan and inform theconsumer about the date the consumer may complete that plan and theconsumer's current progress towards that projected completion date. Thedashboard user interface may also provide the consumer with a quicksnapshot of his/her credit history 1140, where the consumer can see someof the most recent activity. The dashboard user interface may alsoprovide the consumer with links to view his/her credit report from allthree credit bureaus in the traditional spreadsheet view.

In one embodiment, the dashboard/home page may be generated dynamicallybased at least in part on a “life stage,” motivation, or other criteriafor the consumer. This motivation may be provided by the consumer, ordetected, determined, or projected by the credit report system 100. Forexample, the credit report system 100 may determine, based on the dataknown about the consumer (e.g., behavioral data, consumer/market segmentdata, credit data, pre and post registration activity, etc.) a likelymotivation for the consumer. The motivation may be indicative of what ismotivating the consumer to check, monitor, and/or act on his/her creditreport or credit report data. For example, the consumer may beassociated with one or more motivation categories such as activeplanner, life event, reactive, or just curious. An active planner may bea consumer who regularly checks his/her credit report and takes activesteps to improve his/her credit score or health (e.g., by reducing orpaying off credit balances, taking active steps to avoid missed or latepayments, etc.). A life event consumer may be one who desires to checkhis/her credit in preparation for a life event such as a car purchase, ahome purchase, getting married or divorced, entering or graduating fromcollege, or any other life event which may motivate the consumer to findout what his/her current credit standing may be. A reactive consumer maybe a consumer who is motivated to check his/her credit report inresponse or reaction to another credit event, such as being denied aloan or a low interest rate and being informed that the reason for thedenial was a poor credit score. Another reactive type event may beidentify theft or fraud, a lost or stolen credit card, or any otherevent which triggers a consumer to think he/she needs to check his/hercredit score and assess the impact of the event. A just curious consumermay be a consumer who is motivated to check his/her credit report out ofcuriosity or because the credit report is available for free, but maynot yet be otherwise motivated to act on the credit report or beexperiencing a life event or reactive event.

With reference again to FIG. 11, the user interface elements displayedin the dashboard or home page may be presented or displayed in differentconfigurations based at least in part on the consumer's motivationcategory. For example, for a consumer identified as an active planner,the financial planning UI element may be presented larger or moreprominently to the user since this particular feature is more likely tobe relevant or of interest to the active planner. For a consumeridentified as just curious, the credit snapshot UI element may be moreprominently presented or displayed, while the financial planning UIelement may be smaller or not displayed at all. Or in another example,for a consumer identified as reactive, the credit history timeline maybe more prominently presented, placing more emphasis on recent events inthe consumer's credit history and the relative impact of those events onthe consumer's overall credit score.

The consumer may not always have the same motivation to check his/hercredit report or credit data. Motivations can change over time. Forexample, a just curious or reactive consumer may transition to an activeplanner or a life event consumer, and so on. Accordingly, the dashboarduser interface of FIG. 11 may be arranged, configured, or presenteddifferently to the consumer over time as his/her motivations change. Forexample, the financial planning UI element may be prominently displayeduntil a particular life event has occurred (e.g., for a life eventplanner) or a financial goal has been achieved (e.g., for an activeplanner). For example, the financial planning UI element may beprominently displayed for a consumer planning a car purchase, and afterthe car has been purchased the financial planning UI element may nolonger be prominently displayed because it would be less relevant to theconsumer. The credit report system 100 may be configured toautomatically detect credit events and/or determine the consumer'smotivation category on a periodic basis in order to update the dashboardconfiguration for the consumer. For example, the credit repot system 100may automatically detect that the consumer has a new car payment basedon the appearance of a new auto loan obligation appearing on theconsumer's credit report, and in response determine that the consumermay have shifted from a “life event” consumer (e.g., wherein the lifeevent is a car purchase) to an “active planner” (e.g., wherein theconsumer is actively planning to pay off the car loan). The dashboardand/or other user interfaces described herein may be generated orconfigured differently based on the detected shift in motivation.

In another embodiment, the various user interface panels shown in theuser interface of FIG. 11 may be user-configurable widgets which may beconfigured to integrate or “plug in” to other websites or web services.For example, a user might use a web service or a web browser whichsupports integration and display of user interface widgets or componentsprovided by third parties. Thus, the user might wish to include, forexample, a credit summary widget provided and generated by the creditreport system 100 on his/her web browser home page, or as an applicationshortcut on a mobile operating system, or similar configuration whichmay be external to, or separate from, the credit report system 100.

Credit Reports and Credit Bureaus

The credit report system 100 may be separate from a credit bureau orcredit data store 108. One of the purposes of the credit report systemis to interface with the credit bureau or any data store that has datathat will eventually be rendered by computing device 162. The creditreport system 100 may request and extract the appropriate credit datafor a specific consumer based on a user using the computing device 162.This allows for a single point of contact for computing device 162interaction. The credit report system 100 can then be configured torequest from and receive data from credit bureaus or other creditdatabases.

Alternatively, the credit report system 100 may be executed by a creditbureau itself. In this case, the credit report system and the creditbureau functionality may be combined, with no need to transfer data overa wide area network between them. In some embodiments, the clientcomputing device 162 may be configured to interact directly with acredit bureau over a network, to access a credit report and summaryattributes. In this case, any custom attribute creation or processingneeded must be performed by the computing device 162.

Other

Each of the processes, methods, and algorithms described in thepreceding sections may be embodied in, and fully or partially automatedby, code modules executed by one or more computer systems or computerprocessors comprising computer hardware. The code modules may be storedon any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or computerstorage device, such as hard drives, solid state memory, optical disc,and/or the like. The systems and modules may also be transmitted asgenerated data signals (for example, as part of a carrier wave or otheranalog or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readabletransmission mediums, including wireless-based and wired/cable-basedmediums, and may take a variety of forms (for example, as part of asingle or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discrete digitalpackets or frames). The processes and algorithms may be implementedpartially or wholly in application-specific circuitry. The results ofthe disclosed processes and process steps may be stored, persistently orotherwise, in any type of non-transitory computer storage such as, forexample, volatile or non-volatile storage.

The various features and processes described above may be usedindependently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. Allpossible combinations and subcombinations are intended to fall withinthe scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain method or processblocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processesdescribed herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, andthe blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in othersequences that are appropriate. For example, described blocks or statesmay be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, ormultiple blocks or states may be combined in a single block or state.The example blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel, orin some other manner. Blocks or states may be added to or removed fromthe disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and componentsdescribed herein may be configured differently than described. Forexample, elements may be added to, removed from, or rearranged comparedto the disclosed example embodiments.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

All of the methods and processes described above may be embodied in, andpartially or fully automated via, software code modules executed by oneor more general purpose computers. For example, the methods describedherein may be performed by the credit report system 100, consumercomputing device 162, and/or any other suitable computing device. Themethods may be executed on the computing devices in response toexecution of software instructions or other executable code read from atangible computer readable medium. A tangible computer readable mediumis a data storage device that can store data that is readable by acomputer system. Examples of computer readable mediums include read-onlymemory, random-access memory, other volatile or non-volatile memorydevices, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape, flash drives, and optical data storagedevices.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure. The foregoing description details certainembodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated, however, that nomatter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can bepracticed in many ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted thatthe use of particular terminology when describing certain features oraspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that theterminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including anyspecific characteristics of the features or aspects of the inventionwith which that terminology is associated. The scope of the inventionshould therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims andany equivalents thereof.

1. (canceled)
 2. A computing system comprising: one or more hardwarecomputer processors; one or more storage devices configured to storeexecutable instructions configured for execution by the one or morehardware computer processors to cause the computing system to: generatea user interface comprising, for a plurality of financial accounts of auser, a corresponding plurality of tiles selectable by the user, atleast some of the tiles each indicating: account information for acorresponding financial account; and a graphical indication of apotential impact on a credit score of the user resulting from acharacteristic of a financial account corresponding to the tile, whereinthe graphical indication comprises a color representative of thepotential impact; receive an indication of selection of an individualtile of the plurality of tiles from a computing device associated withthe user; and in response to the indication of selection of theindividual tile, cause display of a shortcut menu with two or moreinteractive elements that, when selected by the user, invokes a remedialaction associated with the potential impact.
 3. The computing system ofclaim 2, wherein the remedial action includes at least one of:facilitating a payment or filing a dispute.
 4. The computing system ofclaim 2, wherein invoking the remedial action includes launching anapplication configured to perform the remedial action.
 5. The computingsystem of claim 2, wherein the plurality of tiles are arranged in theuser interface based on one or more attributes of the correspondingfinancial account.
 6. The computing system of claim 5, wherein the tilesare further arranged in the user interface based on at least one ofcredit utilization, account balance, credit limit, age of accounts, timenext payment is due, amount due, or impact on credit score of a latepayment of the corresponding account.
 7. The computing system of claim2, wherein the computing system is further configured to: receive aselection of an account attribute from the user; identify one or more ofthe financial accounts having the selected account attribute; and updatethe generated user interface to comprise only one or more tilesassociated with the identified one or more of the financial accountshaving the selected account attribute.
 8. The computer system of claim7, wherein the selected account attribute is one of: open accounts,closed accounts, accounts with inquiries on a credit report, revolvingcredit accounts, installment accounts, or accounts with a currentbalance.
 9. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the computer systemis further configured to: receive, from the user, a search querycomprising search terms; identify one or more financial accounts relatedto the search terms; and update the generated user interface to compriseonly one or more tiles associated with the identified one or more of thefinancial accounts related to the search terms.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that,when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform thefollowing method: generate user interface data including, for aplurality of financial accounts of a user, a corresponding plurality ofselectable icons, at least some of the selectable icons indicating:account information for the corresponding financial account; and agraphical indication of an impact on a credit score of the userresulting from a characteristic of the corresponding financial account,wherein the graphical indication comprises a color representative of theimpact; and in response to an indication of a selection of an individualicon by the user, load a shortcut menu with interactive elements that,when selected by the user, invokes a remedial action to remedy theimpact.
 11. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 10,wherein the selection of the icon includes a user's mouse hovering overthe icon.
 12. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 10,wherein the remedial action includes at least one of: facilitating apayment or filing a dispute.
 13. The non-transitory computer storagemedium of claim 10, wherein the remedial action includes launching anapplication to perform the remedial action.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer storage medium of claim 10, wherein the graphical indicationcomprises icons that are arranged in the user interface data based onone or more attributes of the corresponding financial account.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer storage medium of claim 14, wherein the iconsare further arranged in the user interface data based on at least one ofcredit utilization, account balance, credit limit, age of accounts, timenext payment is due, amount due, or impact on credit score of a latepayment of the corresponding account.
 16. A method comprising:generating a user interface comprising, for a plurality of financialaccounts of a user, a corresponding plurality of visual indicators thatare selectable by the user, at least one of the visual indicatorsindicating: account information for the corresponding financial account;and a graphical indication of a potential impact on a credit score ofthe user resulting from a characteristic of a financial accountcorresponding to the visual indicator, wherein the graphical indicationcomprises a color representative of the potential impact; and inresponse to an indication of selection of an individual visualindicator, automatically loading a menu with interactive elements that,when selected by the user, invokes a remedial action to remedy thepotential impact.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the selection ofthe visual indicator includes a user's mouse hovering over the visualindicator.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the remedial actionincludes at least one of: facilitating a payment or filing a dispute.19. The method of claim 16, wherein the remedial action includeslaunching an application to perform the remedial action.
 20. The methodof claim 16, wherein the visual indicators are arranged in the userinterface based on one or more attributes of the corresponding financialaccount.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the visual indicators arefurther arranged in the user interface based on at least one of creditutilization, account balance, credit limit, age of accounts, time nextpayment is due, amount due, or impact on credit score of a late paymentof the corresponding account.